28 in 28 Week One: From doves to pinup girls, Crew fan re-imagines team through new logos

Saturday

Feb 8, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 8, 2014 at 3:47 PM

Editor's note: As Massive City FFC's Justin Bell laid out in the project's first post, fate seemed to conspire to get this baby rolling. And now that it's rolling, we can clearly see why (SPOILER: It's been hella cool). As we'd always planned, Alive will post weekly roundups of each new Crest, with links back to Massive City so you can read more about the thought that went into each logo. You're gonna wanna.

DAY ONE: COLUMBUS MEANS DOVE

The first day of re-imagined Crew crests might still be my favorite, though that's not to take anything away from the others as you'll soon see.

DAY TWO: 96 FOREVER

Inspired by the Crew's German and Argentine connections, this new crest was originally thought of as a complementary and secondary logo to the Crew's current one; a way to help transition some fans into accepting a new logo. Hard to believe he had those thoughts in 2009, as a new logo seems to be all Crew fans want now.

DAY THREE: C SERPENT

This day's Crew crest was inspired by the serpent burial mound. No, really.

DAY FOUR: CARRY ON

Justin's attempt to retain elements of the Crew's current identity in a new re-design beautifully blends the blue collar with Columbus' progressive nature.

DAY FIVE: SWINGING ON A C

As enjoyable as the re-imagined logos can be to look at, reading Justin's thought-out analysis behind the designs, personal experiences with the team and, in this case, alternative history of Columbus and the Crew is mainlined pleasure.

Another remarkable read, yesterday's post traces the Crew's African traditions back to its first player, Doctor Khumalo. As a fan who also followed the Crew from the very beginning, reading this post about my first favorite Crew player (I remember buying a set of Doctor Khumalo dog tags at one point) was especially enjoyable. I don't know that I was aware of even half the Doctor's international stature as a teen in the mid-'90s. Bonus points for tracking down the old South Africa highlights and full-match.

Lastly, let's end with one of the fan-designed logos submitted to Justin via this project. (If you're interested in submitting your own design, email Justin at massivecityffc@gmail.com.)